With springtime upon us, the thirst for beaches, scantily clad women, drinks and sunshine seem to have taken over the minds of many. And, perhaps, that may be what Miami is most known for. However a group of guys who call the 305 their home seem like they’re on a quest to make sure that their name is one of significance in Miami’s cultural landscape. Emcees Mental Growth and JL Sorrell, alongside producer Tony Galvin, make up the group known as Basic Vocab. They are perhaps best known for their 2006 debut The General Dynamic, which featured a single placed on HBO’s hit show Entourage and an episode of Miami Ink. Four years later, they are back with their second LP, A Better Way.
The introduction sums up their goal very simply, when they explain that they “came here to bring you good music.” Broken down is the fact that they make this music from Miami, but want it to be something for the world to appreciate; a very Blue Scholars-type of approach to global marketing. This leads into the critical “Classic,” boasting raps arguing against major labels and the overall state of mainstream Hip Hop, over a synth-heavy instrumental with a crisp drum line. It becomes apparent from the start that these men all care strongly about keeping music of the highest possible quality with content worth talking about.
What starts as a strength, however, may end up as a negative for some when listening to A Better Way. The criticism of the majors paired with a sense that their music is going to be exactly what Hip Hop needs is ironically bordering cliché status these days, and having a fair amount of the 21 track album continue to state these things repeatedly can at times feel overbearing. Thankfully Basic Vocab lets their versatility shine from time to time and switches up the style and subject matter every now and then. “Just Dance” featuring Amir is just one example of this, where a pseudo Electro-style beat that shows influence from Miami’s dance scene brings a chill, yet dance-able vibe to the first half of the album.
Interspersed among the album are four instrumental snippets that somewhat serve as palate cleansers, so to speak, for the next course of the musical meal. These not only help shift the mood of the album in an effective and unique manner, but they give time for Galvin to shine. Having produced hit tracks for Trick Daddy, Trina, T.I., and more, the Grand Hustle/Atlantic-signed producer’s talents are a definite highlight of A Better Way.
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Although there are no definite low points on the album, there are no definite high points either. Just like their name, the project as a whole is pretty basic. Not bad, not amazing. Lyrically Mental Growth and JL are nothing spectacular, however they’re far from mediocre emcees either. Content-wise they shine, however it’s arguable that they don’t live up to the braggadocio that they put out in their bars. Still there is something of value to be taken from what they spit, and they drop enough lines such as “I’m caliente / smooth like an unseen getaway / Ao rooted in this game, they should call me Kinte,” that would persuade a determined listener to hear out the whole album.
One notable lyrical aspect that should be noted is their creative approach to song structure, especially when storytelling. “Tears,” a track about the hardships that various characters are going through, keenly follows up “Like a Star” featuring Jesse Boykins III, which is the same type of track except it places the focus on teenage angst rather than grown folks’ business. On “Tears,” rather than having each verse be a particular character’s story, then have a hook, and start the next story, the emcees intertwine their stories together. For example, one emcee starts a story about a guy with money problems who turns to the criminal life to make ends meet. Then the other emcee starts a story about a woman who is living happily until she is diagnosed with a disease, which eventually rips apart her relationship. Then comes the hook, where each emcee says the last few bars of their respective characters’ stories over again, then the next verses are continuations of the first. By stretching out the stories and taking turns telling them, the listener is compelled to listen to the end (which holds in store a hidden instrumental track) to find out how the first story finishes, and can better compare and contrast the stories told within the song to comprehend their parallels.
Basic Vocab’s A Better Way is an underground release worth listening to for anyone that just wants to try something new. Whether talking about love and relationships, the pros and cons of Hip Hop these days, or about life’s trials and tribulations, they at least manage to make their content very approachable and easy to relate to. This is no frills, content heavy feel-good music that is an easy listen and very mellow. At the very least they prove that there is more to Miami’s music scene than Pitbull and Rick Ross.
